Sweeney relishing Dragons encounter

27 April 2011 10:14am

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Cardiff Blues fly-half Ceri Sweeney is relishing the prospect of returning to the Dragons' lair on Friday.

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The Welsh play-maker spent several seasons at Rodney Parade playing for the Dragons and he will return to the home of the Men of Gwent determined to put the Dragons to the sword when the two sides meet in the Magners League on Friday.

Sweeney is taunted by the vocal Rodney Parade faithful whenever he returns to his old stomping ground but that is something the Welsh international has thrived upon in the past and he has come up trumps with two match-winning performances in the last two years.

"The stick I get from the fans definitely makes me play better," said Sweeney

"They're only trying to put me off because I'm a good player. They wouldn't be getting on my back if I wasn't a good player."

"I always enjoy the atmosphere at Rodney Parade and I've played well there over the last few years.

"I still have a lot of friends down there, and they're friends I will keep for the rest of my life."

The Blues lie fourth in the league but just one point above the Ospreys.

They face the Dragons in a rearranged fixture, which originally fell victim to the cold blast in December, before finishing the regular season campaign in another Welsh derby against the Scarlets.

But as Dai Young has pointed out, a game in hand means nothing unless it is a win.

And Sweeney is under no illusions of what the Blues have to do if they are to reach the Magners League play-offs for the very first time.

"We have two games left and we know the task in front of us. We have to win them both," said the 31 year old.

"We hope we are hitting form at the right time. We're under pressure but we know how important it is to win these games," he added.

"Not getting into the play-offs would be a massive blow for us. It was a target at the start of the season and now we've put all our eggs into one basket."

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